Hand In Hand
By Shotzette, Old Time Fan and Missy

Episode Six
By Missy

Thank You To Chesh For Tireless Hours of Betaing!

Lenny followed his instincts. He slammed the door shut, right in Laverne's face.

Carmine couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of amusement as panic crossed Lenny's face. He leaned against the thin door with his weight, causing it to buckle a bit. Laverne's hands hammered relentlessly into the door, refusing to regard his reaction.

"LET ME IN!" She screamed.

"You gotta do what she says, Len," remarked Carmine, "That door ain't gonna stay up." He moved toward the window.

Lenny, holding the door steadfast against Laverne's pounding, frowned, "Where are you going?"

"You guys don't need me," Carmine smirked; he pried open a window and climbed out onto the fire escape, "I'm takin' the back door. Good luck, Len."

Lenny shot him a murderous look, which Carmine blithely ignored.

He waited until his roommate had cleared his line of sight before doing his bidding. Laverne stopped in mid swing. Her face was flushed, her hair was out of place...and she was beautiful. So beautiful.

They regarded each other awkwardly.

"Len."

Lenny, frozen stiff by his pain, could say nothing.
"What're you doin' here?" He finally spoke, through a thick throat.

She shrugged, "I called Squig, and Rhonda gave me your address." She smiled, "I'm sorry about Squig, Len. I..." His eyes were stony, "You should've known, Len; he never throws away anything..."

Lenny met her eyes, "I don't believe it," He said, "I go all the way to New York, an' you show up..."

"Well, this ain't exactly a social visit..."

He waited a full minute before asking, "So, where is he?"

"He who?" Laverne asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"He...Sonny, he."

"Oh." Laverne sighed, "We broke up."

He stared at her, "Broke up?"

"He wanted to shove me into the kitchen and keep me there, barefoot and pregnant." She laughed, "Pop kept trying to convince me to go along with it, but I couldn't stand the idea, ya know? I've got a great new job offer..and..." She looked into his eyes, "You know what I realized? I like him. But.."

"But?"

"I don't love him, Len."

The words rocked him.

"I can't spend my life with him."

He sighed, "What're you doin' here, Vernie?"

She sighed, "One reason is that my grandma's in the hospital."

"No.." It was a relief to think about someone else's troubles instead of his own, but Mrs. DeFazio had been so nice to he and Squiggy when they were in Brooklyn. Squiggy; desperation was swallowing him up rapidly.

She nodded, "It doesn't look good..."

"Why aren't you there?"

"Cause Pop kicked me out." She sighed, "He wants to be alone with her, at the end, especially. They had a great bond, ya know, despite it all, and..." And you're babbling. "How's Amy?" She changed the subject.

"Amy?"

"She was sitting on the stoop, I saw her." Her eyes darkened, "I didn't see Edna, and I don't want to, or I'm gonna..." Her fists balled up in agitation.

"Amy's OK; she's in a new school, and she has her own place..."

"Are you guys..."

His eyes widened, "What?"

"You know!"

He sighed, "You know I ain't gonna mess around with Amy like that. We've just been hangin' out." He tried to look sophisticated, strolling over to his window frame and leaning against it, "So, how'd ol' Sonny take the news?" His elbow missed the molding, nearly sending him onto the fire escape.

She smiled, "Not too good. We had a big fight." She sighed, "I didn't want us to end it all with us yellin' at each other." She rose a brow, "You look happy about it."

"Yeah well..I always said he wasn't no good."

"Oh, you an' Shirl shoulda.." Her eyes widened, "Shirl!"

"What's wrong with her?"

Laverne shook her head, "She..hasn't been doin' too well. When Carmine left, she started drinking..."

Lenny plunked down on the windowsill, "Gawd." He said.

She, awkwardly, drifted over to comfort him. He didn't slap away his hand as she stroked his shoulders. "It's a lot to get through your head, isn't it?"

He nodded.

"Len..." She started tentatively, "I'm sorry for how I treated you."

He stared glumly ahead, "How?"

"That I treated you like you were less of a guy. I...I don't tell you enough that you're a man. A terrific man. And you're gonna do something special, someday."

"But it ain't good enough, is it?" He slapped his hands against his thighs as he stood up, "No matter how brave or handsome or exciting I try to be, it ain't enough! You see me as the guy who went through your underwear drawer, or the guy who eats Goat Chow and..."

"If that were true then why.."

"Why what?!"

"Why can't I stop thinking about you?!"

He stared at her in disbelief, "I thought I was fine without you."

"Really?"

He leaned heavily against the wall, "No. Oh, I need a drink..."

She shook her head, "I got a better idea...I saw a movie theatre down the street; four hours of Monsters in Tohoscope. Then, after, we can go out and get plastered..."

He stared at her, "I never had the money to go there. Or for plaster. Look at these walls..."

She smiled, "Come on..my treat."

He frowned, "Nah, mine.." He emptied out his right pocket; sitting there was the five dollars that Mrs. Babbish had paid him this morning, "And there's a lot more where that..."

She shook her head, "Money don't matter, Len."

He smiled, lamely, "You gonna go with me, or what?"

He held out his hand.

She took it.

***

The Fort Pendleton Base chapel was gloomy, dark. It seemed as though no joy had ever existed there; as though it had been outlawed centuries ago.

A small stained glass portrait faced Shirley as she stood at the end of the aisle. A borrowed white shawl lay limply across her shoulders, masking the bright red of her dress. So very appropriate; white masking for a sinner's transgression.

She dipped her fingers in the cold metal holy water decanter. Well, there wasn't another choice, was there? No way could she have a baby and raise it by herself...she could try to abort the child, but...and then, carrying it to term, only to send it to be adopted?

Shirley shuddered against the warm day. No other way, no other choice.

Tears flowed as she realized that her long-dreamed-for wedding had become a mockery, a sham, someone else's paradise. Complete with witnesses that she did not even know. Bobby and her father could not make it; neither could her mother. There wasn't any other way Squiggy could come, nor could Rhonda.

Laverne. She was getting married without her best friend.

Joy. She smiled through her tears. They were tears of joy.

The sound of a plane taking off nearby masked her sob.

This would be her transgression. She thought to herself that it would be satisfactory penance as she made her long, deathly march down the right runner. Poor Walter smiled naively, and, Lord help him; he had done his best to make their wedding beautiful. As beautiful as a one made on a four-hour engagement could possibly be.

It was her idea, to be married so quickly. So early in her pregnancy, so that, just maybe, her friends and relatives could be fooling into believing that her little one was an unborn result of her honeymoon.

She staggered under the weight of her nausea, by now not knowing if her constant anxiety caused the roiling sickness in her breast.

She smiled through her tears, taking Walter's hand. They were happy tears.

Happy. Happy. Happy. She chanted to herself.

The chaplain opened his Bible and began reading. Another engine revved, and he began shouting to be heard over the plane.

Machine won out over man.

***

Edna Babbish watched the world pass by dully outside of her window. The building was shaping up nicely, no thanks to her knuckleheaded super.

She smiled fondly when she thought of Lenny. Amy was horribly attached to him, but when she had met with her daughter for lunch and had asked her who she was going to marry, Amy had smiled, her eyes electric.

"Ringo!" She had cried.

Enda shook her head; Amy would probably never have a normal relationship. God may have been unfair to her daughter, but it was just as unfair to both Lenny and Amy to continue on with a relationship that wasn't going anywhere.

She had to make a change soon...something magic, unusual.

Something more than just ending up doing what she had always done, in another city and another town.

***

San Domini Christi; Amen

Frank kept his head down as a priest read his mother last rites. She had been gasping for air since the early afternoon, when he had thrown Laverne out of the room.

She had said her good-byes. It was his turn now.

"Mamma..."

She sighed, "Bambino," She said heavily, "You carry too much upon your heart."

He nodded, "Mamma, I am not important."

"But I cannot go to my rest unless you promise me.."

"Anything.."

"Take care of the Bambina," She said softly, "But..you must not push her." Her eyes held temporary steel, "She is not happy. And do not even try to encourage her with that Sonny! He does not let her live!"

"But mamma..."

"But mama nothing!" She said firmly, coughing harshly, "Do what I say."

Her raspy breathing filled the room. Frank closed his eyes tightly as they filled with tears.

God. It was as if his family had been cursed.

***

Squiggy forced himself to sit up, "Well, I ain't stayin' in this place no more."

"Squiggy, the doctor says you have to stay here."

He frowned at Rhonda, "Why? So I can croak here? So they can get my money?" She petted his head as he scowled, "Don't touch me, woman."

She stood up haughtily, "There was a time, Andrew Squig-Mond, " she deliberately pronounced every syllable, "That you would beg Rhonda to lay her lovely hands upon you."

"Yeah," He grinned lasciviously. Then the smile disappeared, "Yeah."

She sighed, "Do you think Rhonda did the right thing, by giving Laverne Lenny's address?"

Squiggy laughed, "Sure. At least one of us oughtta be happy."

"Squiggy."

"Rhonda, my dove; I had plans for this life. Big, big dreams."

"And.."

"And nothin'. No one's gonna hire a cripple to manage them."

Her eyes were defiant, "Squiggy, Rhonda is not, and has never been, a 'nobody.'"

He eyed her, "Oh yeah? Suddenly I'm good enough to manage you?"

She smiled, "Maybe Rhonda just realized that she's good enough to be managed by you."

Despite himself, he smiled.

***

Carmine wandered the never-ending streets of New York, taking in the sights and some air. He tried to decide if he had enough money for dinner; a cup of coffee would have to suffice.

He smiled to himself, with his luck, the rest of the evening would be spend in a flop house, because Lenny and Laverne were probably making good use of their apartment right now.

A tiny bit of guilt swept over him, only to be swiftly pushed aside by a smile. Hell, at least one of them deserved to be happy.

He wasn't quite ready to admit to himself that he felt miserable without Shirley.

Carmine walked on, his eyes dancing across the neon lights flashing brightly. He thought it was a dream when a sign in a random coffeehouse appeared (they were everywhere, all trying to be unique and distinctive in an environment that didn't allow it):

"Wanted: Singer/Emcee
Familiarity with Standards/Jazz
Inquire within."

His eyes fell on the hiring price and he almost fell over in the street.

Still, he paused at the threshold. This wasn't a lead on Broadway. It wasn't that dream job he waited on. What if that producer never called back?

He had to go with the sure thing. His life depended on it now.

***

The movie emptied out past midnight. Sometime during the evening, Lenny's arm had drifted around Laverne's waist. She never called him on it, nuzzling against his side.

They never had that drink, drifting instead back to his building. And, standing on the stoop, as they had a million years ago in another time, another state. They stood, hands locked together.

"So..." He began, "You stayin' with your Dad?"

She nodded, "At Grandma's place in Brooklyn."

"Yeah..I guess you've gotta be goin' back there."

"Yeah.." He opened the door part way, and her voice stopped him, "Len?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you come see Grandma in the hospital tomorrow?"

He nodded.

"She'd like that." He stepped through the door. "Len?"

He turned, "Yeah?"

"Maybe...we could call Squig tomorrow?"

He didn't know how or who would pay for it, but he smiled, "I need to."

She nodded.

Her hand hadn't left his.

"Len.." She began again. She pulled him from the door's embrace.

Into her arms.

Into her kiss.

Never had he felt something so deep, so stirring. Kissing Laverne this way landed him in a realm beyond the lust he had harbored for her.

Laverne was kissing him. And she wasn't drunk. And she had been the one to make the first move.

He touched her arm; it was coated in goosebumps. When the kiss broke, he cupped her cheeks between his hands, holding her gaze.

"Vernie?" He stared into her eyes, "Say yes?"

She reached up and drew him into a kiss that said much more than just 'yes.'

He made the next move. By picking her up and carrying her to his apartment. He left a sock on the doorknob

A sign that Carmine would well understand.

FIN






To Chapter 5

On To Chapter 7











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